Colombo inflation surges to 64.3% in August

• Food inflation at 94%; non-food breaches 50%
• Inflation expected to peak in Sept. and then decelerate- CB

The headline inflation in the Colombo district, as measured by the Colombo Consumer Price Index (CCPI), accelerated to 64.3 percent on a year-on-year basis in August versus 60.8 percent in July, the data released by the Census and Statistics Department showed. 

The food inflation in August surged to 93.7 percent, from 90.9 percent in July, as the prices of almost all kinds of food rose, while the non-food inflation increased to 50.2 percent in August, from 46.5 percent in July, mainly amid the rise in the transport costs, due to the fuel price hikes. 

Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe expects the inflation to moderate after peaking in September and said inflation won’t reach 70 percent as expected earlier. 

“It will peak around 65 percent or less than that,” Dr. Weerasinghe told the last monetary policy review press conference held in mid-August. 

As a result, the Central Bank kept the policy interest rates unchanged in August, after raising the rates by 950 basis points so far this year.